Feeding of articles in wrapping or packaging machines



Jan. 15, 1957 2,777,561

FEEDING OF ARTICLES IN WRAPPING 0R PACKAGING MACHINES Filed July '7.1953 A. G. ROSE 2 Sheets-Sheet l w. E m m% m n WR A a A G H 6 1 w m u mL fiwdl A I v L k Jan. 15, 1957 A. G. ROSE 2,777,561

FEEDING OF ARTICLES IN WRAPPING OR PACKAGING MACHINES Filed July 7,1955, 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 In en or ALFRED GERMAN R OSE m) g M /6201778378FEEDlNG OF ARTECLES IN WRAPPlNG R PACKAGING MACHINES Alfred German Rose,Gainsborough, England, assignor to Rose Brothers (Gainsborough) Limited,Gainsborough, England, a British company Application July 7, 1953,Serial No. 35%,778

Claims priority, application Great Britain July 9, 1952 16 Claims. (Cl.198-33) This invention relates to the feeding of articles in wrapping orpackaging machines of the kind in which the articles to be wrapped orpacked, e. g., sweets, are fed into separate pockets in anintermittently movable pocketed feed member, e. g., a wheel or chainconveyor from the pockets of which the articles are forwarded insuccession for subsequent wrapping or packing operations.

It has been usual to feed the articles to the pockets of the feed memberby hand, though proposals for automatic feeding mechanisms includingvibratory feeds, have been made. It is with the automatic feeding of thearticles to the pockets of the feed member in the above kind of machinethat the invention is concerned.

According to the present invention, articles are fed on to the surfaceof the feed member containing the pockets to be carried by that membertowards a transfer position, the articles being agitated during suchmovement by the intermittent motion of the feed member so as to causethem to tend to fall into the pockets, and, at a position between thefeeding position and the transfer position surplus articles aredeflected out of the path of movement of the pockets and conveyed backtowards the feeding position where they again move into the path ofmovement of the pockets.

The deflecting of the surplus articles and their conveyance back to thefeeding position may be performed in a variety of ways. Thus, where thefeed member is in the form of a pocketed feed wheel, a guiding membermay extend across the path of movement of the pockets so as to sweepsurplus articles on to a portion of the wheel surface inside the ring ofpockets that portion thus acting as the conveyor, the guiding membersweeping the surplus articles inwardly away from the pockets on to theinner surface of the wheel to allow that surface to carry the articlesback to the feeding position where a further guiding member (or acontinuation of the same guiding member) may sweep the articles backinto the path of movement of the pockets. A continuation of the guidingmember may extend as a peripheral wall around the edge of the eed wheelin close proximity to the outer edges of the pockets. A further guidingmember may be disposed centrally of the feed wheel to avoid sumlusarticles accumulating on the central portion of the feed wheel.

With some kinds of article, it may be necessary closely to confine thearticles during the feeding movement to the portion of the feed membersurface containing the pockets. Thus, with a pocketed feed wheel,stationary side walls may extend closely alongside opposite sides of thepockets over a substantial part of the periphery of the wheel toconstitute a feeding channel, surplus articles being dEflCC'iBd awayfrom the pockets by a guiding member extending across the path ofmovement of the pockets at a point beyond the exit of the channel andleading to the entrance of the channel. A further wall may be providedopposite the guiding member to constitute with that 2,777,551 PatentedJan. 15, 1957 member a guiding channel leading to the entrance of thefeed channel. There may be arranged within the channel one or moreoscillating members of flexible material, e. g., rubber, arranged tosweep the surface of the wheel to urge the articles into the pockets andat the same time sweep surplus articles back towards the entrance of thechannel. When more than one oscillating member is used, they may bearranged with their tips at progressively decreasing distances from thewheel surface, the one nearest the channel exit actually sweeping thesurface. Thus, there may be three members secured to a shaft extendingco-axially with the axis of the pocket wheel, the members being spacedcircumferentially.

Such feed channel conveniently extends over about half the periphery ofthe wheel, while the guiding channel may extend across the surface ofthe wheel from the exit to the entrance of the feed channel. The inneror outer walls (or both) of either the feed or guiding channel (or both)may be caused to oscillate transversely so as to cause the articles tobe agitated somewhat in a transverse direction. Such agitation tends toprevent the possibility of occasional jamming of the articles in thechannel or channels. Alternatively, or in addition, the walls of thechannel or channels may be made of material that will give to someextent, or they may be supported on such material. Thus, in one example,the inner wall of the feed channel and that of the guiding channel maybe constituted by a common wall suspended above the wheel surface byspring means, and the wall may be caused to oscillate at intervals by acam member mounted co-axially of the feed wheel and arranged to engagethe wall.

The portion of the guiding member immediately adjacent the pockets ispreferably constituted by a brush lying transversely of the pockets andarranged to rotate in 'a direction to cause its lower surface to sweepinwardly so as to brush surplus articles away from the pockets on to theportion of the wheel inside the ring of pockets to be carried by thatportion back towards the feeding position. The brush may be of theconventional type or it may be formed by a plurality of radial vanes ofbristle or of flexible material, e. g., rubber, extending from arotatable support.

When dealing with articles of a generally square or rectangularcross-sectional shape, it may be preferable to provide one or moreadditional rotatable brushes or the like at positions between the feeddevice and the portion of the guiding member immediately adjacent thepockets, e. g., the rotatable brush mentioned above, further to assistthe positioning of the sweets in the pockets as. they pass from the feeddevice, the additional brushes urging the bulk of the articles backtowards the feeding position. One or more of such additional brushes maybe arranged for rotation about an axis intersecting the feed wheel at apoint in or near to the path of movement of the pockets, the bristles(or the like) of the brush terminating sufficiently above the level ofthe feed wheel to avoid interference with articles properly positionedin the pockets but at the same time to engage articles that may bestanding on edge or lying inclined in the pockets so as to agitate sucharticles. This arrangement has been found particularly advantageous whendealing with articles of a generally oblong shape, especially when thedimensions of the article are such as to allow articles standing on endto get into the same pocket. The brush tends to remove one or both ofsuch articles in time for a further article to be properly positionedinthe pocket before it reaches the transfer position.

brush); type.

3 downwardly extending bristles (or the like) arranged on radial lines.

For similar reasons a still further rotatable brush (or brushes)(preferably of the radial vane type mentioned above) may be provided ata position adjacent that at which the articles are deflected backtowards the path of movement of the pockets, the further brush servingthe purpose of assisting the returned surplus articles into the pocketsbefore they reach the feeding position. The further brush preferablyrotates in a direction to urge the articles back towards the oncomingpockets so as to assist in filling those pockets before they arrive atthe feeding position. When using a further brush or brushes in thismanner, the central guiding member mentioned above will generally not benecessary.

Alternatively or in addition to the various forms of guiding memberdescribed above, surplus articles may be deflected by a blast of airaway from pockets moving towards the transfer position and on to aportion of the wheel surface inside the ring of pockets, that portionthus acting as a convey-or as before. Several blasts may be directedtowards the surface of the wheel from nozzles disposed at differentpositions and serve not only to defiect surplus articles away from thepockets moving towards the transfer position but also to guide themtowards other pockets as the articles are carried around on the surfaceof the wheel.

The articles may be supported in the pockets by an annular memberarranged close to the lower surface of the feed wheel in register withthe pockets, and still further to assist the positioning of the sweetsin the pockets, the annulus (or a portion of it) may be given avibrating motion so as continually to agitate the sweets in the pockets.Thus the annular member may be formed in two halves, one (i. e., the oneadjacent the transfer position) remaining fixed while the other ismounted on a parallel motion linkage for movement generally parallel tothe under surface of the feed wheel, the linkage being connected to arotatable eccentric to produce a vibrating motion of the annulus.

The articles are preferably fed to the surface of the feed wheel by avibrating feed device of the electromagnetic type. In such a case, theremay be arranged over the pockets adjacent the feed device a feelermember, e. g., a pivoted feeler, freely extending towards the surface ofthe feed wheel so as to be engaged by the articles as a surplusaccumulates, the feeler being adapted to control the vibrating action ofthe feed device. Thus, the feeler may be arranged, after apre-determined upward movement, to operate a microswitch to renderinoperative the feed device. After the accumulated surplus is carn'edforward by the feed wheel, the feeler again drops and the feed device isre-started. Instead of stopping the feed device entirely, the feeler maybe arranged to operate a device for varying the rate of vibration so asto increase or decrease the supply of articles to the feed wheel. A twostage controlling device may be sufficient, one stage operating the feeddevice at the full rate while the second stage reduces the rate to ahalf or less.

Whilst the present invention is particularly useful in the feeding ofarticles to machines for wrapping the individual articles, it will beunderstood that the invention can be readily applied to other uses. Forexample, in the packaging of assorted sweets in cartons, tins and othercontainers, the invention may be utilised as a counting device for thesweets of the various sorts, the sweets of one sort being fed to onefeed member according to the invention while the sweets of another sortare fed to another feed member, the sweets from the various feed membersbeing delivered to a conveyor or hopper for transport to the packagingapparatus.

The invention will now be described in greater detail with reference tothe accompanying drawings, in which Figures ,1 and 2 are a plan andsectional .elevation,

4 respectively, of one form of feeding device for a wrapping machine,and

Figures 3 and 4 are similar views of another form of feeding device,also for a wrapping machine.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, a feed wheel 11 having article receivingpockets 12 of rectangular shape is intermittently driven by a Genevamechanism 13 in known manner. Sweets 14 positioned in the pockets aretransferred therefrom in succession by a reciprocating pusher 16 passingthrough each pocket 12 in succession to transfer the sweet 14 to themould wheel 17 of a wrapping machine of known construction, a wrapper 18being interposed between each sweet 14 and the mould wheel 17 so as tobe carried by the sweet into the mould wheel.

The sweets 14 are fed to the surface of the feed wheel 11 by anelectromagnetic vibrating feed device 19 of known construction, thesweets passing in bulk past a pivoted feeler 21 controlling theoperation of the feed device 19 through a pivoted controlling member 22one end of which is connected to the feeler 21 while the other end isadapted to actuate a microswitch 23 electrically connected to the feeddevice 19. As the feeler 21 rises under the influence of the mass ofsweets delivered to the feed wheel 11, therefore, the feed device isswitched off or has its rate of delivery reduced, until the feeler 21again falls as the sweets pass.

Extending across the path of movement of the pockets 12 is a guidingmember constituted by a wall 24 and a brush 26 rotatably mounted anddriven by a flexible shaft 27 in a direction to cause its lower surfaceto sweep unwardly so as to brush surplus sweets away from the pockets onto the portion of the wheel inside the ring of pockets 12 to be carriedby that portion back towards the feeding position. Sweets passing thebrush 26 move into engagement with the wall 24 which deflects the sweetsback into the path of movement of the pockets 12. A continuation 28 ofthe wall 24 extends as a pcripheral wall around the edge of the feedwheel 11.

Arranged at a position adjacent that at which the sweets are deflectedback towards the pockets 12 is a further rotatable brush 29 of theradial vane type, the brush 29 serving to assist the surplus sweets intothe pockets 12 before they again arrive at the feeding position.

The sweets 14 are supported in the pockets 12 by an i annular memberarranged close to the lower surface of the feed wheel 11, the annularmember being formed in two halves 31 and 32, the member 31 being fixedwhile the member 32 is mounted on a parallel motion linkage 33 formovement generally parallel to the under surface of the feed wheel 11,the linkage 33 being connected to a rotatable eccentric 34, driven by amotor 36, to produce a vibrating motion of the member 32.

With sweets 14 delivered as required to the surface of the feed wheel 11by the feed device 19, they are carried forward by the wheel 11, theintermittent mo tion of the wheel 11, aided by the vibrating motion ofthe member 32, agitating the sweets so as to cause them largely to fallfreely into the pockets 12 as they move forward. Any sweet not properlypositioned in a pocket is assisted into the pocket by the brush 26,while surplus sweets are swept away by the brush and guided back towardsthe feed position by the wall 24. The second brush 29 sweeps the sweetstowards the oncoming pockets and thus assists in filling them beforethey reach the feeding position. It is found that substantially all thepockets of the wheel 11 are filled in this manner.

In Figures 3 and 4, a pocketed feed wheel 41 (in this case havingpockets 42 of circular shape) is again driven intermittently by a Genevamechanism (not, shown) and carries the sweets 43 to a transfer positionat which they are removed in succession by a pusher 44 through a foldingbox 46 into a mould wheel 47, wrappers 48 biting1 again interposedbetween the sweets and the mould w ee The sweets 43 are again fed by avibrating feed device 49 (similar to the device 19) on to the surface ofthe wheel 41, the device 49 being again controlled by a feeler 51. Aguiding member 52 extends across the path of movement of the pockets 42to sweep surplus sweets away from the pockets 42 on to the inner portionof the wheel surface. A rotatable brush 53 passes through a slot in thewall 52 and serves to sweep the surplus sweets back towards the feedposition as well as assisting the sweets into the pockets.

The wall 52 extends over a substantial part of the periphery of thewheel 41 and with an inner wall 54 constitutes a feed channel 56 and aguiding channel 57. The inner wall 54 is mounted on the outer wall 52 bymeans of brackets 58 and springs 59 so as to be flexible, and a starwheel 61, secured to the feed wheel 41, serves to agitate the wall 54 toprevent the possibility of occasional jamming of sweets in the channels.

As before, the intermittent motion of the feed wheel 41 serves toagitate the sweets during their passage through the feed channel 56 soas to cause them largely to fall freelyinto the pockets 42, articles notproperly positioned in the pockets being assisted into. the pockets bythe brush 53, while surplus sweets are swept away by the brush andguided back to the entrance to the feed channel 56 by the guidingchannel 57.

I claim:

l. A device for feeding articles to a wrapping or packaging machine,comprising an intermittently movable pocketed member, automatic meansfor feeding articles to the surface of the pocketed member in the regionof the pockets to be carriedby that member towards a transfer station,the intermittent motion of the pocketed member agitating the articles soas to cause them to tend to fall into the pockets, a feeler memberarranged over the pockets of the pocketed member adjacent the feedingmeans and freely extending towards the, surfaceof the pocketed member soas to be engaged by surplus articles as they accumulate on said surfaceand to be raised thereby to operate a device controlling the operationof the automatic feeding means, a deflecting member disposed between thefeeler member and the transfer station for deflecting surplus articlesout of the path of movement of the pockets so as to be conveyed backtowards the feeding position and again into the path of movement of thepockets by the surface of the pocketed memher, and means fortransferring the articles in succession from the pockets at the transferstation.

2. A device for feeding articles to a wrapping or packaging machine,comprising a pocketed feed wheel arranged for intermittent rotationabout a substantially vertical axis, automatic means for feedingarticles to the surface of the wheel in the region of the pockets to becarried by the wheel towards a transfer station, the intermittent motionof the wheel agitating the articles so as to cause them to tend to fallinto the pockets, a feeler member arranged over the pockets of the wheeladjacent the feeding means and freely extending towards the surface ofthe wheel so as to be engaged by surplus articles as they accumulate onsaid surface and to be raised thereby to operate a device controllingthe operation of the automatic feeding means, a guiding member extendingacross the path of movement of the pockets at a position between thefeeler member and the transfer station so as to deflect surplus articleson to a portion of the wheel surface inside the ring of pockets to allowthat surface to carry the articles back towards the feeding position,that portion thus acting as the conveying means, means for deflectingthe surplus articles on the surface back into the path of movement ofthe pockets as they move towards the feeding position, and means fortransferring the articles in succession from the pockets at the transferstation.

3. A device for feeding articles to a wrapping or packaging machine,comprising a pocketed feed wheel arranged for intermittent rotationabout a substantially vertical axis, automatic means for feedingarticles to the surface of the wheel in the region of the pockets to becarried by the wheel towards a transfer station, the intermittent motionof the wheel agitating the articles so as to cause them to tend to fallinto the pockets, a feeler member arranged over the pockets of the wheeladjacent the feeding means and freely extending towards the surface ofthe wheel so as to be engaged by surplus articles as they accumulate onsaid surface and to be raised thereby to operate a device controllingthe operation of the automatic feeding means, a guiding member extendingacross the path of movement of the pockets at a position between thefeeler member and the transfer station so as to deflect surplus articleson to a portion of the wheel surface inside the ring. of pockets toallow that surface to carry the articles back towards. the feedingposition, that portion thus acting as the conveying means, a furtherguiding member for deflecting the articles back into the path ofmovement of the pockets as they move towards the feeding position, aperipheral wall around the edge of the feed wheel in close proximity tothe outer edges of the pockets between the feeding position and thefirst mentioned guiding member, and means for transferring the articlesin succession from the pockets at the transfer station.

4. A device. as in claim 3, comprising a stationary wall inside the ringof pockets from the feeding position over a. substantial part of theperiphery of the wheel to constitute with the peripheral wall a feedchannel, the guiding member extending across the path of movement of thepockets at a point beyond the exit of the feed channel.

5. A device as in claim 4, comprising a further inner wall opposite theguiding member and the further guiding member and constituting withthose members a guiding channel leading to the entrance to the feedchannel.

6. A device as in claim 5, wherein at least the inner wall of at leastthe feed channel is caused to oscillate transversely so as to cause thearticles to be agitated somewhat in a transverse direction.

'7'. A device as in claim 6, wherein the inner wall of the feed channeland. that of the guiding channel are constituted by a common wallsuspended above the wheel surface by spring means and the oscillation isbrought about by a cam member mounted co-axially of the wheel.

8. A device as in claim 2, wherein the portion of the guiding memberimmediately adjacent the pockets is constituted by a brush lyingtransverse to the path of movement of the pockets and arranged to rotatein a direction to cause its lower surface to sweep inwardly so as tobrush surplus articles away from the pockets.

9. A device as in claim 8, comprising at least one additional rotatablebrush at a position adjacent that at which the articles are deflectedback into the path of movement of the pockets, said additional brushbeing adapted to rotate in a direction to cause its lower surface tomove in a direction opposite to that of the feed wheel surface so as tobrush surplus articles towards oncoming pockets.

10. A device as in claim 2, comprising an annular member arranged closeto the lower surface of the feed wheel in register with the pockets soas to support the articles in the pocket, at least a portion of theannulus extending between the feed position and the guiding member beinggiven a vibrating motion so as continually to agitate the articles inthe pockets.

11. A device as in claim 2, wherein the automatic feeding mean comprisesa vibrating feed device of the elec tromagnetic type.

12. A device as in claim 11, comprising a device responsive to thefeeler member for varying the rate of vibration of the feed device.

13. A device for feeding articles to a wrapping or packaging machinecomprising an intermittently movable pocketed member, automatic meansfor feeding articles to the surface of the pocketed member in the regionof the pockets to be carried by that member towards a transfer station,the intermittent motion of the pocketed member agitating the articles soas to cause them to tend to fall into the pockets, a deflecting memberdisposed between the feeding position and the transfer station fordeflecting surplus articles out of the path of movement of the pocketsso as to be conveyed back towards the feeding position and again intothe path of movement of the pockets by the surface of the pocketedmember, a supporting surface arranged close to the lower surface of thepocketed member in register with the pockets so as to support thearticles in the pockets, at least a por tion of the supporting surfaceextending between the feed position and the deflecting member beinggiven a vibrating motion so as continually to agitate the articles inthe pockets, and means for transferring the articles in succession fromthe pockets at the transfer station.

14. A device for feeding articles to a wrapping or packaging machine,comprising a pocketed feed wheel arranged for intermittent rotationabout a substantially vertical axis, automatic means for feedingarticles to the surface of the wheel in the region of the pockets to becarried by the wheel towards a transfer station, the intermittent motionof the wheel agitating the articles so as to cause them to tend to fallinto the pockets, a guiding member extending across the path of movementof the pockets at a position between the feeding position and thetransfer station so as to deflect surplus articles on to a portion ofthe wheel surface inside the ring of pockets to allow that surface tocarry the articles back towards the feeding position, that portion thusacting as the conveying means, means for deflecting the surplus articleson the surface back into the path of movement of the pockets as theymove towards the feeding position, an annular member arranged close tothe lower surface of the feed wheel in register with the pockets so asto support the articles in the pockets, at least a portion of theannulus extending between the feeding position and the guiding memberbeing given a vibrating motion so as continually to agitate the articlesin the pockets,

and means for transferring the articles in succession from the pocketsat the transfer station.

15. A device for feeding articles to a wrapping or packaging machine,comprising a. pocketed feed wheel arranged for intermittent rotationabout a substantially vertical axis, automatic means for feedingarticles to the surface of the wheel in the region of the pockets to becarried by the wheel towards a transfer station, the intermittent motionof the wheel agitating the articles so as to cause them to tend to fallinto the pockets, a guiding member extending across the path of movementof the pockets at a position between the feeler member and the transferstation so as to deflect surplus articles on to a portion of the wheelsurface inside the ring of pockets to allow that surface to carry thearticles back towards the feeding position, that portion thus acting asthe conveying means, means for deflecting the surplus articles on thesurface back into the path of movement of the pockets as they movetowards the feeding position, a brush constituting a portion of theguiding member immediately adjacent the pockets and lying transverse ofthe pockets, the brush being arranged to rotate in a direction to causevits lower surface to sweep inwardly so as to brush surplus articles awayfrom the pockets and means for transferring the articles in successionfrom the pockets at the transfer station.

16. A device as in claim 14, wherein the automatic feeding meanscomprises a vibrating feed device of the electromagnetic type.

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